As various forms of distributed computing, such as cloud computing, have come to dominate the computing landscape, security has become a bottleneck issue that currently prevents the complete migration of various capabilities and systems associated with sensitive data, such as financial data, to cloud-based infrastructures, and/or other distributive computing models. This is because many owners and operators of data centers that provide access to data and other resources are extremely hesitant to allow their data and resources to be accessed, processed, and/or otherwise used, by virtual assets in the cloud.
In a cloud computing environment, various assets, such as, but not limited to, virtual machine instances, data stores, communications systems, and various services, are created, launched, or instantiated, in a production environment for use by an application, i.e., an “owner” of the asset, herein also referred to as a user of the asset.
Herein the terms “owner” and “user” of an asset include, but are not limited to, applications, systems, and sub-systems of software and/or hardware, as well as persons or entities associated with an account number, or other identity, through which the asset is purchased, approved managed, used, and/or created.
One major security issue in a cloud computing environment is that vulnerabilities associated with applications, assets, and virtual assets are not always readily identifiable and/or known or understood at the time the applications and assets are created and deployed, e.g., instantiated, in a given computing environment and, once deployed, accurately identifying potential security breaches, and responding to newly identified vulnerabilities through “normal” communications channels associated with the assets can be challenging, if not impossible.
In addition, in some cases, a malicious entity is able to take control of an asset. In these cases, the malicious entity often takes over, or closes down, normal communications channels associated with the asset. Consequently, in some cases, the malicious entity can mask the fact they have taken control of the asset, and/or be left relatively free to manipulate the asset under its control and access any data used by the asset, with little or no indication, or immediate recourse, for the legitimate owner of the asset.
Given that virtual assets often process and control sensitive data, the situation described above represents a significant issue that must be resolved before highly sensitive data, such as financial data, can be safely processed in a cloud computing environment.
What is needed is a method and system for providing security aware applications that can self-monitor and self-alarm, or respond, to various security vulnerabilities and breach events.